Automatic drilling machine



Nov. 27, 1945.

L. ROBBINS AUTOMATIC DRILLING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 21,1942 Q o 5 7 w l IH mm m. [so flags/Na ATTORNEY Nov. 27, 1945.

L. ROBBINS AUTOMATIC DRILLING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1942 8 Sheets-Sheet3 Nov. 27, 1945. L. ROBBINS AUTOMATIC DRILLING MACHINE 8 SheetS -Shes't4 Filed Dec. 21, 1942 IN VEN TOR.

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AUTOMATIC DRILLING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1942 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 "i Q LLINVENTOR. (so Ross/Ms ATTORNEY L. ROBBINS 2,389,743

Nov. 27, 1945.

' L. ROBBINS 2,389,743

AUTOMATIC DRILLING MACHINE Filed ne 21', 1942 a sfieets-sheet 6INVENTOR. 50 0B.8//V8 Nov. 27, 1945. ROBBINS AUTOMATIC DRILLING MACHINEFiled Dec. 21, 1942 a Sheets-Sheet 7 Has.

IN V EN TOR.

Nov. 27, 1945. L. ROBBINS 2,389,743

AUTOMATIC DRILLING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1942 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 FIGJB. vF|.G.9

q Mull HI HEIHIHIIH.

IN VEN TOR.

Z50 fioaB/A s ATTO/T/YE'Y Patented Nov. 27, 1945 AUTOMATIC DRILLINGMACHINE Leo Robbins, New York, N. Y., assignor to Roberts Manufacturing00., New York, N. Y.

Application December 21, 1942, Serial No. 469,685

13 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic drilling machines. While thesemachines are particularly adapted and are described herein for thepurpose of drilling holes in the hubs of hypodermic injection needles,it will be understood that they are capable of being employed fordrilling a widevariety of similar articles.

It is one of the principal objects of this invention to provide anautomatic drilling machine which is capable of performing a plurality ofsuccessive drilling operations, each of which may be of a difierentvariety.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a drilling machinewhich can not only perform a plurality of successive drilling operationsbut which can perform a plurality of operations simultaneously on aplurality of articles.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a machine whichiscapable at the will of an operator of either performing a plurality ofsuccessive drilling operations which are different in character, orperforming simultaneously a plurality of similar drilling operations soas to drill a plurality of objects simultaneously in the same manner.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means formaintaining the turntable free of waste metal which has been drilled outof the articles.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means whereby adrill may drill a constant depth of hole in the article regardless ofthe length of the article which is"fed to the drill.

Still another object of thi invention is to provide means for preventingdamage to the machine due to jamming of the articles to be drilled inthe jig.

Further objects and advantages of thi invention will become apparent inthe following detailed description thereof.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the drilling machine with parts broken away.

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken line 3-3'of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section taken line l4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section taken line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section taken line 6-6 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a section taken line 'l---! of Fig. 5.

substantially on the substantially on the substantially on thesubstantially on the substantially on the Fig. 8 is a section takensubstantially on the line 8--8 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is a section taken substantially on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9A is a section through a motor and armature employed in the Fig. 9device.

Fig. 10 is a vertical section through'one type of hub adapted to bedrilled and showing the countersink and large hole drilled therein.

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 showing the same hub with the smallhole drilled therein.

Fig. 12 i a vertical section through another type of hub adapted to havebut a single hole drilled therein.

'Fig. 13 is a view of a detail adapted to be applied to the device shownin Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 1, it will be seenthat the invention consists broadly in supporting within a frame orcasing l0- a rotating table II having a plurality of hub supports l2projecting therethrough. The operator places the hubs to be drilled uponthe upper ends of said supports in advance of the drilling positions.The hubs may be of the types shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12. Theintermittent rotation of turntable II is designed to bring the hubssuccessivel into the drilling positions beneath the drills A, B and C,after which the drilled hubs are removed from the hub supports andreplaced with undrilled hubs. The mechanism for rotating the table tobring the hubs into drilling position and for efiecting such drillingwill nowbe described.

The hub supports l2 are disposed circumfer entially in the table I I andspaced equal angular distances apart. This angle is designated in Fig. 1as the angle on. The table is then rotated step by step, each step beingequal to the angular distance oz to bring the support successively intocooperation with the drill heads A, B, C which are fixedly mounted onthe frame It].

For rotating the turntable ll intermittently through successive steps,the table may be mounted upon a shaft M which is driven by anintermittent or step-by-step drive. This drive is shown in Figs. 5, 6and 7 and may comprise a star-wheel 16 with which is adapted to meshperiodically a pin l8 eccentrically mounted ona disk H which issupported for rotation on a shaft l 9. The said shaft also carries agear 20 adapted to mesh with a mutilated gear 2| of larger diameter sothat gear 20 will rotate through only a portion of the time in whichgear 2| makes a complete revolution. Gear wheel 2| is provided withsubstantially as many teeth 22 as are on the periphery of gear wheel 20so that for each revolution of gear wheel 2 I, gear wheel will make onecomplete revolution. (Actually the number of teeth 22 is less than thenumber of teeth on wheel 20 to take care of the inertia of wheel 20 andthe mass driven by said wheel.)

This means that disk I1 and eccentric pin I8 will also make one completerevolution for each revolution of gear wheel 2I, and since shaft I3 iseccentrically positioned with respect to shaft I4, the pin I8 will meshwith the star-wheel. I6 once during each revolution of gear wheel 2Ithrough a predetermined angular distance, at which point it will leavethe star-wheel. Thus, for that fraction of a revolution of gear wheel 2|indicated by the proportion of its circumference occupied by teeth 22,the star-wheel will be moved through a step and will remain in thatposition throughout the time that the remainder of the periphery of gearwheel 2| which is minus gear teeth remains out of mesh with gear wheel20. Thus the starwheel has been given one step of rotation designed tomove the succeeding hub support I2 to drilling position while moving thehub which has been drilled, out of drilling position.

The said intermittent movement may be ef- I fected from any suitabledriving source such as a motor, not shown, which drives through a beltand pulley 25, 26 to a shaft 21, and thence (see Fig. 4) through a worm28 and worm wheel 29 it will drive shaft 30 on which the worm wheel 29is mounted. Shaft 30 carries gear wheel 3I which may mesh (see Fig. 5)with gear wheel 32 on shaft 33, said gear wheel 32 meshing with gear 34on the same shaft 35 which carries the mutilated gear wheel 2 I.

Since gear teeth 22 move out of mesh with ear wheel 20 once during eachrevolution of shaft 35 and must again effect engagement on the nextrevolution, means are provided for synchronizing the position of gearwheel 20 with gear wheel 2| and gear teeth 22 during the interval thatthe gears are out of engagement so that said gear teeth will be inposition to mesh. For this purpose there is provided a defining andholding mechanism which becomes effective as soon as gear teeth 22 moveout of mesh with gear 20 and which remains effective until gear teeth 22are almost ready to engage gear 20 again. For this purpose there ismounted on the fixed support I 20 a lever I2I carrying a detent rollerI22 adapted to cooperate with a disk I23 fixed upon the shaft I9. Saiddisk I23 is provided with the groove I24 into which the detent roller I22 is adapted to engage as soon as the gear teeth 22 move out of meshwith gear wheel 20, and thus render definite the position of the gearwheel 20 with respect to gear wheel 21 and its gear teeth 22 so thatgear teeth 22 will be able to mesh with gear 20 on the next rotation.The lever I2I is normally spring pressed by spring I25 to hold thedetent I 22 in engagement with the periphery of disk I23. When the gearteeth 22 again mesh with gear 20 it will rotate shaft I9 and hence diskI23 to move the detent I22 and lever I2I outwardly from the grooveagainst the action of spring I25. The defining and holding mechanism isthus released for the interval that the shaft I9 rotates, and whensubstantially a complete rotation of said shaft has been made and gearteeth 22 move out of engagement with gear 20, the detent I22 again fallsinto the groove I24 to define the meshing position of the gear wheel 20relative to gear wheel 2| and hold it fixed in such position.

The drive described above is designed to rotate the table I Iintermittently through predetermined steps, said steps being thosenecessary to bring the hub supports I2 and the hubs supported on theupper ends thereof successively into drilling position. Each drill maycomprise the motor M, M, M" which drives a, drill extending downwardlywithin a jig 4 I The jig is supported upon a fixed member 43 by means ofpins 44 slid able in said member. Springs 42 are interposed between thejig and support 43 to hold the jig normally in lowered position untilflanges 49 on pins 44 engage member 43. The hub support I2 with the hubH to be drilled supported thereon is designed to be moved up throughguide opening 45 in the table II with sufiicient force to lift the jigagainst the action of springs 42 to cause the drill to enter into theupper end of the hub H and drill the hole. The interior of the jig 4|may be provided with a conical surface 46 so formed as to engage thenarrow upper rim 4'! and the wider lower rim 48 of the hub H and thusguide the hub into the proper drilling position.

For operating the hub support I2 upwardly into the jig when therespective hub support and its hub are in drilling position, thefollowing mechanism is provided: The hub supports I2 are slidablymounted within table II through openings 45 so that they may be movedvertically. Each support I2 is provided with a collar 50 having a groove5| within which engages pins 52 carried by arms 53 (see Figs. 9 and 1).Each arm 53 is pivoted at one end at 54 (see Figs. 1 and 2) on a hub 55fixed to the shaft I4 and is provided at its other end with a roller 56operating on a ring cam track 51. At the bottom of each support I2 thereis provided a flange 60 (see Figs.- 3 and 9) which is adapted to engagewithin a slotted member 6| when the respective hub support has movedinto drilling position. Said slotted members are carried upon the upperends of shafts 62 which are slidable (see Fig. 4) within a fixedsupporting plate 65 forming part of the fixed frame ID. The lower endsof said slotted member 62 are fixed at E5 in a vertically reciprocableplate P. The plate P is supported on the fixed frame ID by means such aspairs of toggles 70.

It will now be apparent that if plate P is lifted vertically it willmove all of the shafts 62 and their respective slotted members 6 I,together with the hub supports I2 which are in engagement with saidslotted members, vertically upwardly. Since the axes of shafts 62coincide with the axes of drills to, the hub supports will be liftedvertically and the hubs moved within the jigs concentrically with thedrills when the plate P is raised. This, however, implies that the plateP will maintain a parallel motion as it is lifted. To secure suchparallel motion, as well as the necessary force for lifting the hubsupports and the hubs into the jigs so that they may be drilled, theplate P is supported, in addition to the toggles 10, at two points bymeans of rollers II in engagement with cams 72 on a horizontal shaft 13.It will now be understood that if plate P is lifted equally by the camsI2 it will move in parallel motion by reason of the toggle supports IDwhich hold it on the frame It].

Shaft 73 and its cam 12 may be rotated to lift plate P by any suitabledriving means such as the motor, not shown, which drives the belt andpulley 25, 26 which drives the shaft 21 and its worm 28 which may engageworm wheel I5 on the said shaft I3. The earns '52 are so positioned withrespect to the intermittent drive hereinbefore described that theyoperate to lift the plate P after pin IT has left the star-wheel I6. Inother words, the star-wheel has first been moved to the new position tobring a new hub and its hub support into drilling position and then thecams lift plate P to lift the hubs into engagement with the drill,Raising plate P raises shafts 62, the slotted member GI, and therespective hub supports I2 which are in engagement with said slottedmembers to move the hubs H carried by the rethe table has been turnedinto its new position and before the plate P begins to move upwardly forlocking the table in position. For this purpose an additional cam I6 isprovided on shaft I3 and is adapted to, engage a lever TI pivoted on thefixed frame at I8 and at its upper end engaging a pin IS on a pin orplunger 89 which is adapted to cooperate with openings 8] in theperiphery of the table II. Normally, the cam moves lever I1 outwardly topull the pin 86 out of the opening 8| when the intermittent drive isabout to take effect to move the table I I to its new position. As soon,however, as the pin it has disengaged the star-wheel it, that is, assoon as the table has been moved through another step to its newposition, the cam it permits the lever TI to move inwardly under thepressure of a spring 82 pressing against the endof plunger 80 to permitsaid plunger to enter the respective opening 8| in the table and hold itwhile plate P begins to move the hub supports I2 upwardly. When thedrilling has been effected and plate P moves downwardly, the cam I6becomes effective to move lever 11 outwardly against the action ofspring 82 and thus disengage plunger 80 from opening 8I in table I I topermit the intermittent drive to move the table to its next position.The pin 85 may be provided with a tapered point 83 so that anyindefiniteness of position of table II will not prevent engagement withopenings SI and will correct such indefiniteness by bringing the tableto the proper step position.

The full cycle of operation is apparent from the above description andmay be briefly summarized as follows: The intermittent star-wheel driverotates turntable i I through a given angular distance to move thedrilled hub out of drilling position and bring a new hub into drillingposition. The table i I is locked in this position by the action ofplunger 80 under control of cam 16. Then the plate P is lifted throughthe action of cams I2 to lift the hubs on supports I2 into the jigs andeffect drilling. The plate is then lowered, the plunger 89 withdrawnfrom table II, and the star-wheel mechanism again is actuated throughthe next step. In the interval that table II is stationary, the drilledhubs are removed from the hub supports and undrilled' hubs are placedthereon.

Since the drilling of the hubs produces considerable waste materialwhich drops upon table II and may clog the mechanism, means are providedwhereby said waste is continually removed from the surface of the table.For this purpose, the power drive which includes belt and pulley and 26may drive through further belt and pulley arrangements 85, 86, 81, 88and 89 to rotate a horizontal shaft 90 extending inwardly over plate IIand carrying at its inner end a brush 9| which will thus be continuouslyrotated about a horizontal axis. The brush is so positioned and thedirection of rotation so controlled that the brush will engage thesurface of the table during each revolution of the brush and moveoutwardly toward the circumference of the table and then upwardly. Inthis movement the brush also removes the drilled hubs. Thus there is acontinuous brushing of waste material and drilled hubs past the outerperiphery of the table. The waste material and drilled hubs are caughtin a screen filter which permits the waste to pass but holds back thedrilled hubs.

In order that the hub supports I2 which normally project upwardlythrough the turntable II shall not interfere with the operation of brush9 I, the cam track 57 is provided with a depressed portion 5'! incooperative relation with the brush 9|. The rollers 56 at the end oflever arms 53 will drop into the depression 51' carrying levers 53downwardly and hence carrying the respective hub supports I2 downwardlyuntil they are beneath the surface of the turntable in that portion ofthe table over which br'ush 9I operates and thus will not interfere withthe brush. The drilled hubs remain on the surface of the table after thesupports I2 are depressed, until the brush sweeps them off.

As shown in Fig. l of the drawings, a plurality of drills may beprovided and these may be employed in various combinations forperforming various operational sequences. Thus, for instance, to drillthe hub shown in Figs. 10 and 11 which calls for drilling first acountersunk hole 93, then a, large hole 94 and finally a small hole 95,three drills A, B and C may be employed. The drills A and B arepositioned the angular distance 20c apart while drills B and C' arepositioned the angular distance 311 apart. Drill A is provided with acountersink, drill B with the large drill, while drill C is providedwith the finer drill. After the hub has had the countersink drilled bydrill A, it will, two steps later, have hole 94 drilled by drill B, andthree steps later in the intermittent drive of plate II it will reachdrill C where the fine hole will be drilled. It will be understood thatall of the drills are operating simultaneously on the respective hubswhich are in cooperative relation. During this operation, the turntableII moves at each step through the angular distance a. However, when ahub of the type shown in Fig. 12 is to be drilled, such hub requiringbut a single hole, then only drills B and C are employed and eachperforms the same function. In this instance, the drive is changed sothat the table II rotates at each step through the angular distance 2a,and since drills B and C are the angular distance 30: apart, alternatehub supports will engage drill B and drill C. In other words, a supportthat goes under drill B and has the hole 96 drilled in the hub H will inthe next step of the table rotate the distance 20: (one step in advanceof drill C) and in the next step of the table will advance anotherdistance 20: (which is one step beyond drill C). On the other hand, thenext succeeding support I2, for example the one at position II!!! whenthe drill B is drilling a hub, will in the next step of the tableadvance to position IIH one step beyond drill B but two steps beforedrill C. Therefore on the next double step of the table the hub inposition IIII will advance into position to be drilled by drill 0. Thusalternate hubs on hub supports I2 will engage drill B while the hubsbetween those which engage drill B will engage drill C. In this way bothdrills B and C will drill holes 96 in their respective hubs H at thesame time and the rate of production will be increased because at eachangular double step of the table I I two hubs will be drilled.

The above operation implies that the angular distance through whichtable II may be moved can be adjusted from movement of angle a at eachstep to movement of angle 20: at each step. For this purpose thefollowing mechanism is provided: The pin I8 carried by disc I! mayoccupy either one of two positions on said disc. In position S, nearerthe center of the disc, the pin will engage the teeth of the star-wheelfor a shorter interval to efiect a smaller angular movement of the wheelthan when the pin is in position S farther removed from the center ofthe disc.

.Position S is so determined that pin I8 in this position will effecttwice the angular movement of the star-wheel for each rotation of gear20 than when said pin is in position S.

When the pin I8 is moved to position S from position S it may be foundthat it does not coincide with the center of an opening between twoadjacent teeth of the star-wheel and that unless some adjustment is madethe pin I8 will not enter the notch in the star-wheel freely butv willstrike one of the teeth. To effectv the necessary adjustment withoutinterfering with the meshing relationship of gears 20 and 22, the shaftI9: and its concentric gears and discs are mounted on the support III]by sets of screws I30 entering openings I.3I in the support. A secondset of openings I32 may be provided so that the shaft I9, disc I! andpin I8 may be moved along the plane surface II2 of support III! to thenecessary position to cause the pin I8 to cooperate with the notches inthe star-wheel when the pin is. moved to position S. The axis of shaftI9 when pin I8 is: in position S and the screws I30 are in openings I3Ilies to one side of a normal to the plane H2 a distance equal toone-half, the distance between sets of openings I3l and I32. When theshaft I9 (with its gears and discs) is moved to adjust for the screw inposition S, it is moved to a position on the other side of the normalequal to one-half the distance between sets of openings I3I and I32. Thedistance between the axes of shafts I9 and 35 remains the same in thetwo positions and therefore the meshing of gears 20 and 22 is unaffectedby the adjustment.

The drill motors M, M, M" may be mounted. in any suitable manner,preferably so that they may be adjusted vertically to permit boring ofholes of any length in hubs of various lengths.

In drilling hubs such as H, shown in the drawings, it frequently happensthat these hubs are not all of the same length and therefore holes ofdifferent lengths may be drilled because certain of: the hubs willproject above the hub supports for greater distances than others. Toinsure constant length of drill hole regardless of the length of hub,there may be provided on the armature IBU. of the drill motor, a sleeveI50. which extends above the drill point a predetermined distancecorresponding to the depth of hole to be drilled. The motor armature isof a resiliently moimted type. When the hub support lifts the hub intothe jig 4I and against the drill, the latter will descend into the hubuntil the hub or jig engages sleeve I50, after which further upwardmovement of the. hub will cause no further entrance of the. drillbecause the sleeve and motor armature will lift, and hence the drill andhub will lift together. A constant depth of drilling is thus assuredregardless of the length of the hub.

It sometimes occurs that a hub will stick in the jig after the hubsupport is withdrawn. The next hub support lifts its hub into the jigand attempts to complete its stroke under the pressure of the liftingplate P and the driving mechanism, despite the presence of the jammedprior hub. This creates great pressure throughout the entire system andwould cause considerable damage if it were not relieved. For thispurpose any suitable type of one-way overrunning clutch (not shown) mabe employed in the drive system, preferably between the double pulley26-85 and the shaft 21.

Another method of preventing damage to the machine caused by thepresence of a jammed prior hub is shown in Fig. 3. This includes a bellcrank I60 pivoted at I.6I on a member I62 which in turn is fixed to themain frame ID of the machine. One arm I63 of the bell crank is connectedto the upper end of lever I1 through a link I 34 so that when cam 16moves lever TI to cause pin to disengage the table II and permit thelatter to be rotated, the bell crank will be rocked about its pivot(counter-clockwise in Fig. 3). The other arm I65 of the bell crank isnormally in close proximity to the hub H positioned within the jig 4|.If the drilled hub H has descended with its hub support I2, then the armI65 of the bell crank meets no opposition when the bell crank is rotatedcounter-clockwise, the lever 'II moves outwardly, and the table isrotated to its next step position. However, if a hub has stuck in thejig after its support I2 has descended, the arm I55 of the bell crankwill strike the hub H and preventv rotation of the bell crankcounterclockwise and hence prevent lever I7 from moving outwardly. Pin80 remains in engagement with the table II, and since the drivingmechanism continues to operate, the excess resistance will cause theoverrunning clutch mentioned in the preceding paragraph to becomeeffective to release the driving connections. Since the table cannot beturned to a new position until the hub H is removed from the jig, it isnot possible to jam a second hub into the same jig before the first hasbeen removed.

Still another solution of the above problem of preventing damage to themachine by a jammed hub is disclosed in Fig. 13. Here the distancethrough which pins 44 are raised is utilized to operate a safetymechanism. A single hub in the jig is raised a predetermined distance.If this hub is jammed and a second hub enters the jig before the firsthub has been removed, the jig and its pin 44 will obviously be raised agreater distance than normally. An tendenc to exceed the predetermineddistance through which pin 44 is raised is caused tooperate safetymechanism in the form of a clutch I70 for disconnecting the drivingmechanism. For this purpose the flange 49 on pin 44 is caused to engagea stop I'II carried by a lever I12 pivoted at I13 on the fixed frameII]. The stop is set at the predetermined position to which the flange49 on pin 44 is raised for drilling one hub. If this distance isexceeded (as in the case where a hub jams and a second hub enters. thesame jig before the first has been removed), the flange 49 will engagestop III to rock the lever [-12 which actuates an operating lever I15pivoted at- I16 on the fixed arm to disconnect clutch- IIIl against theaction of a spring ITI- which tends to keepthe clutch in engagement.This clutch, like the overrunning clutch heretofore mentioned, may beinterposed between the driving mechanism and the shaft 21 which carriesthe double pulley 26, 85.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have hereindescribed the principle and operation of my invention, together with theapparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof,but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is onlyillustrative and that the invention can be carried out by otherequivalent means. Also, while it is designed to use the various featuresand elements in the combination and relations described, some of thesemay be altered and others omitted without interfering with the moregeneral results outlined, and the invention extends to such use.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntabl for supporting a plurality of hubs spacedapart a predetermined angular distance, a plurality of drills, and meansfor moving said turntable step by step, each step corresponding to twicesaid angular distance, said drills being spaced apart three times saidangular distance whereby said drills are caused to cooperate withalternate hubs at each step of said turntable,

2. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a drill, a jig in which said drilloperates, a shaft for supporting said turntable, a plurality of leverspivotally connected to said shaft, a plurality of hub supports slidablymounted in said turntable, each of said supports being carried by one ofsaid levers, means for moving said turntable step by step to bringsuccessive hub supports into cooperative relation to said drill, andmeans for lifting the hub support which is in cooperative relation tosaid drill and moving the hub carried by said support into said jig.

3. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a plurality of drills, a plurality ofjigs in which said drills operate, a shaft for supporting saidturntable, a plurality of levers pivotally connected to said shaft, aplurality of hub supports slidably mounted in said turntable, each ofsaid supports being carried by one of said levers, means for moving saidturntable step by step to bring successive hub supports successivelyinto cooperative relation to said drills, said drills being spaced aparta distance equal to a predetermined number of said steps, and means forsimultaneously lifting all of those hub supports which are incooperative relation to said drills so as to move the hubs carried bythe last named supports into said jigs.

4. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a plurality of drills, a plurality ofjigs in which said drills operate, a shaft for supporting saidturntable, a plurality of levers pivotally connee-ted to said shaft, aplurality of hub supports slidably mounted in said turntable, each ofsaid supports being carried by one of said levers, means for moving saidturntable step by step to bring successive hub supports successivelyinto cooperative relation to said drills, said drills being spaced aparta distance equal to a predetermined number of said steps, means adaptedto engage those supports which are in cooperative relation to saiddrills, and means for lifting said preceding means so as to move thehubs carried by the last-named supports into said jigs.

5. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a plurality of drills, a plurality ofjigs in which said drills operate, a shaft for supporting saidturntable, a plurality of levers pivotally connected to said shaft, aplurality of hub supports slidably mounted in said turntable, each ofsaid supports being carried byone of said levers, means for moving saidturntable step by step to bring successive hub supports successivelyinto cooperative relation to said drills, said drills being spaced aparta distance equal to a predetermined number of said steps, means adaptedto engage those supports which are in cooperative relation to saiddrills, a plate for supporting said last named means, and means forlifting said plate with a parallel motion whereby all those hub supportswhich are in cooperative relation to said drills are moved into saidjigs.

6. In an automaticdrilling machine, a motor driven drill having anarmature mounted for.

linear movement along the axis of rotation thereof, said armaturesupporting said drill for rotation about said axis, a member carried bysaid armatur and extending downwardly along said drill to within apredetermined distance from the point of the drill, said distancecorresponding to the depth of hole to be drilled, a jig in which saiddrill and said member operate, means for moving articles to be drilledinto said jig to engage said drill, said article being engaged by saidmember after said drill has penetrated to said predetermined distancewhereby further movement of said article axially relative to said drillwill lift said armature and said drill and cause no further penetrationof said drill into said article.

7. In an automatic drilling machine, a motor driven drill having anarmature mounted for linear movement along the axis of rotation thereof,said armature supporting said drill for rotation about said axis, amember carried by said armature and extending downwardly along saiddrill to within a predetermined distance from the point of the drill,said distance corresponding to the depth of hole to be drilled, a jig inwhich said drill and said member operate, a turntable for supporting aplurality of hypodermic needle hubs or similar articles, said hubsvarying in length, means for driving said turntable step by step tobring said hubs successively into cooperative relation to said drill,and means for moving the hub which is in cooperative relation to thedrill into the jig, the said hub engaging said member after said drillhas penetrated to said predetermined distance, whereby further movementof said hub into said jig will lift said armature and said drill andcause no further penetration of said drill into the hub regardless ofthe length of the hub.

8. In an automatic drilling machine, a drill, a jig in which said drilloperates, a turntable for supporting a plurality of articles to bedrilled, means for driving said turntable step by step to bring saidarticles successively into cooperative relation to said drill, saiddrill being positioned on one side of said turntable and meanscooperating with the other side of said turntable for tion of the brush,the direction of rotation being such as to cause the brush to move withrespect to said table outwardly toward the periphery thereof.

9. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a plurality of drills, a plurality ofjigs in which said drills operate, a shaft for supporting saidturntable, a plurality of levers pivotally connected to said shaft, aplurality of hub supports slidably mounted in said turntable, each ofsaid supports being carried by one of said levers, means for moving saidturntable step by step to bring successive hub supports successivelyinto cooperative relation to said drills, said drills being spaced aparta distance equal to a predetermined number of said steps, means forsimultaneously lifting all of those hub supports which are incooperative relation to said drills so as to move the hubs carried bythe last named supports into said ji s, a cam upon which the outer endsof said levers operate, said cam being so formed that said levers andtheir supports are depressed after passing all of said drills so thatsaid supports are below the surface of the turntable, and meanscooperatin with the portion of the turntable in which the supports arebelow the surface for removing drill waste and the drilled hubs fromsaid turntable,

10. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a drill, a jig in which said drilloperates, a shaft for supporting said turntable, a plurality of leverspivotally connected to said shaft, a plurality of hub supports slidablymounted in said turntable, each of said supports being carried by one ofsaid levers, means for moving said turntable step by step to bringsuccessive hub supports successively into cooperative relation to saiddrill, means for lifting the hub support which is in cooperativerelation to said drill so as to move the hub into said jig and lower thesupport after the hub is drilled, a source of power for operating saidturntable and said lifting means, a releasing means between said sourceof power and the mechanisms operated thereby, and means whereby saidreleasing means is rendered effective when the hub in drilling positionremains in the ji after its support has been lowered.

11. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a drill, a jig in which said drilloperates, a shaft for supporting said turntable, a plurality of leverspivotally connected to said shaft, a plurality of hub supports slidablymounted in said turntable, each of said supports being carried by one ofsaid levers, means for moving said turntable step by step to bringsuccessive hub supports successively into cooperative relation to saiddrill, means for lifting the hub support which is in cooperativerelation to said drill so as to move the hub into said jig and lower thesupport after the hub is drilled, a source of power for operating saidturntable and said lifting means, a releasing means between said sourceof power and the mechanisms operated thereby, and means whereby saidreleasing means is rendered effective when the pressure between thelifting means and the jig exceeds a predetermined pressure.

12. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a drill, a jig in which said drilloperates, a shaft for supporting said turntable, a plurality of leverspivotally connected to said shaft, a plurality of hub supports slidablymounted in said turntable, each of said supports being carried by one ofsaid levers, means for moving said turntable step by step to bringsuccessive hub supports successively into cooperative relation to saiddrill, means for locking said turntable in position at each stepandreleasing the same after a hub has been drilled, means for liftingthe hub support which is in cooperative relation to said drill so as tomove the hub into said jig and lower the support after the hub isdrilled, a source of power for operating said turntable and said liftingmeans, a releasing means between said source of power and the mechanismsoperated thereby, and means whereby said releasing mean is renderedeffective when the hub in drilling position remains in the jig after itssupport has been iowered, said last-named means comprising means adaptedto engage the hub in the jig when the turntable releasing means isrendered effective for preventing release of said turntable.

13. In an automatic drilling machine for hypodermic needle hubs andsimilar articles, a turntable, a drill, a jig in which said drilloperates, a shaft for supporting said turntable, a plurality of leverspivotally connected to said shaft, a plurality of hub supports slidablymounted in said turntable, each of said supports being carried by one ofsaid levers, means for moving said turntable step by step to bringsuccessive hub supports successively into cooperative relation to saiddrill, means for lifting the hub support which is in cooperativerelation to said drill so as to move the hub into said jig and lower thesupport after the hub is drilled, said jig being lifted a predetermineddegree by the insertion of a hub therein, a source of power foroperating said turntable and said, lifting means, a releasing meansbetween said source of power and the mechanisms operated thereby, andmeans whereby said releasing means is rendered effective when the hub indrilling position remains in the jig after its support has been lowered,said last-named means comprising an operating member for actuating saidreleasing means, and means whereby said operating member is adapted tobe engaged by said jig when said jig is lifted in excess of saidpredetermined degree by the engagement of a second hub with said hebefore the first hub has been released.

LEO ROBBINS.

